So I kept with it after suffering through chapters 1 and 2...even 3 was iffy. But now that I have my groove going it isn't too bad. I am getting used to the controls and I don't even notice the aspect ratio anymore. As others have said, it runs the spectrum between sneaking stealth (i.e. frustrating and clunky controls) to horror action in some chapters (looking at you 6!).

The game definitely still has its flaws but I am at Chapter 10 now and actually enjoying it.

The majority of players (myself included) consider chapter 3 to be the high point of the game. It's pretty excellent in terms of art and level design and the encounters. I feel like it's mostly downhill from there because it gets more and more actiony as you go.

The majority of players (myself included) consider chapter 3 to be the high point of the game. It's pretty excellent in terms of art and level design and the encounters. I feel like it's mostly downhill from there because it gets more and more actiony as you go.

Is chapter 3 the one that has the 5 houses or so you sneak around? And you get the crossbow and eventually "borrow" a chainsaw? I enjoyed that one but it was like the transition from stealth to action so I was constantly low on ammo throughout the chapter.

Yeah, that's the one. It's reminiscent of RE4's village to a lot of people. I don't have any particular reverence for RE4, but I thought that chapter was the best because it was somewhat non-linear and could be approached in a few different ways. I also enjoyed the possibility of stealth, which pretty much disappears for the rest of the game except in a few cases.

Got to the end of Chapter 5 I believe and had seen enough. Clunky and frustrating.

And thematically I'm fine with spooky games and all, but when the weirdest things are happening to your character and he's just all "Huh, well that's something, la la la..." it irks the crap out of me.

So I finished this last night on normal mode. 22 hours (not counting restarts) and 170 deaths. I liked it, the first two chapters not withstanding.

However, as far as the wrap up of the story:

Spoiler:

Nothing was really explained...no backstory on master medical man Ruvik except his sister being killed. Hints of a larger backstory for Kidman (especially at the end when she tell the doctors to leave you connected to the machine) but no info give. Did Joseph survive? There was a conspiracy that got his daughter killed and put his wife in hiding or something....what was the conspiracy? Since she was missing persons bureau I guess she caught wind of Ruvik stealing people to F with their minds? Was she killed? still hiding somewhere? Throughout the game they dropped lots of interesting tidbits and then just left it at that....

There's quite a bit of backstory to Ruvik, remember the flashbacks in the mansion?

Lots of theories about what's going on have already been pieced together and are out there if you're interested enough to search.

Essentially, based on what we do see in the game rather than theories, you can gather that Ruvik was a child genius with morbid interests and wealthy parents. The doctor encouraged his work and provided him with specimens for experiments from the mental hospital. The death of his sister in the fire and his resulting physical scars made him even more deranged, and his parents had him committed. He returned, murdered them, and continued the experiments until he was finally successful in creating the brain-linking machine. The doctor betrayed him and had him murdered, but preserved his brain inside the machine. The entire game takes place with the characters being linked to his brain via the machine and thus inside his mind. His goal was to transfer his own consciousness into Leslie since he was compatible. Kidman's organization was trying to prevent that, but we don't know why the other characters are linked in or how they got there.

At the end, you destroy the brain but it appears as though Ruvik's mind was successful in escaping into the real world in Leslie's body. But did that really happen or was Sebastian still linked in and the end wasn't actually reality? We'll probably find out in the inevitable sequel (since the game was surprisingly successful). Hopefully it's a more polished experience.

Also, one of the planned DLCs is about Kidman, so I suspect we'll learn more about her involvement then. Maybe more about Joseph's fate, too.

There's quite a bit of backstory to Ruvik, remember the flashbacks in the mansion?

Lots of theories about what's going on have already been pieced together and are out there if you're interested enough to search.

Essentially, based on what we do see in the game rather than theories, you can gather that Ruvik was a child genius with morbid interests and wealthy parents. The doctor encouraged his work and provided him with specimens for experiments from the mental hospital. The death of his sister in the fire and his resulting physical scars made him even more deranged, and his parents had him committed. He returned, murdered them, and continued the experiments until he was finally successful in creating the brain-linking machine. The doctor betrayed him and had him murdered, but preserved his brain inside the machine. The entire game takes place with the characters being linked to his brain via the machine and thus inside his mind. His goal was to transfer his own consciousness into Leslie since he was compatible. Kidman's organization was trying to prevent that, but we don't know why the other characters are linked in or how they got there.

At the end, you destroy the brain but it appears as though Ruvik's mind was successful in escaping into the real world in Leslie's body. But did that really happen or was Sebastian still linked in and the end wasn't actually reality? We'll probably find out in the inevitable sequel (since the game was surprisingly successful). Hopefully it's a more polished experience.

Also, one of the planned DLCs is about Kidman, so I suspect we'll learn more about her involvement then. Maybe more about Joseph's fate, too.

Hope that helps.

I didn't even think about DLC for a horror game, that should help with the Kidman stuff. Your explanation did help...apparently I suck at piecing together flashbacks.

Spoiler:

I thought the townsfolk just burned down the barn out of jealousy for the rich folks. They didn't mean to kill the kids since the one guys mentions he heard laughing inside and the other one says "nobody is here". Then, once Ruvik escapes and realizes what happened he goes off and starts his nutso experiments.

Spoiler:

I get that it all took place in Ruvik's mind. Hopefully the DLC will help us see who orchestrated it all in the real world...if Ruvik is just a brain hooked to the machine, and the doctor is inside with you and gets killed....who was it in the real world that actually took people and hooked them to the machine?
The way the game loops back to the beginning I think that the beginning of the first chapter was real, with the investigation at the hospital. At some point in chapter 1 you get knocked out and at that point someone hooks you to Ruvik's machine and from that point on, the game takes place in Ruvik's mind. I guess at the end Joseph and Kidman are still attached? Presumably to be disconnected by the other cops that are now moving into the building?

That is why the townsfolk burned down the barn, but the one guy says "I didn't hear anything" in a tone that implies he definitely did hear the kids inside. I'm not sure that's really important to the overall story, though. The flashbacks show that little Ruvik was already doing experiments and being influenced/helped by the doctor before he has the post-fire bandages.

And if you rewatch the opening cutscene when they're on the way to the hospital, they hear the high-pitched noise that makes their heads hurt, which indicates that they are already hooked up to the machine. Interestingly, Kidman does not react to it. I knew something suspicious was up with her the first time I played through the game because of that.

That is why the townsfolk burned down the barn, but the one guy says "I didn't hear anything" in a tone that implies he definitely did hear the kids inside. I'm not sure that's really important to the overall story, though. The flashbacks show that little Ruvik was already doing experiments and being influenced/helped by the doctor before he has the post-fire bandages.

And if you rewatch the opening cutscene when they're on the way to the hospital, they hear the high-pitched noise that makes their heads hurt, which indicates that they are already hooked up to the machine. Interestingly, Kidman does not react to it. I knew something suspicious was up with her the first time I played through the game because of that.

Good catch, I didn't even remember the noise at the beginning.

looking around online, the explanation i like best is

Spoiler:

at the very end, you are still hooked to the machine. Your only glimpse of the real world is Kidman telling someone to leave you "and those other two" connected. Once Leslie turns to dust, that is Ruvik inhabiting leslie and heading out. The boss battle and you stomping Ruvik's brain are how Seb wants things to play out but he is stomping an empty brain. The shot of him seeing Leslie walk away and when Leslie "fades out" is Ruvik, in Leslie's body, heading into the real world while you stay stuck in the machine thanks to Kidman.

It is still difficult to tell

Spoiler:

what is up with Kidman so I guess the DLC will help with that. She doesn't want Ruvik to get out, but at the same time she and her group seem to want his research.

I think looking for the statues really helps. The statues have the keys that work in the morgue. The morgue drawers are usually full of a bunch of ammo (or a bunch of green gel).

I also found a decent way to conserve ammo on some of the weaker enemies was to shoot them in the leg once and just set them on fire with a match when they fall. One bullet and a match was much better for me than 4 or 5 bullets each time.

Yeah, fire is a great tool for conserving ammo. Use your matches. You can set fire to enemies/bodies on the ground and any enemies that are touching them at the time will also catch fire and die. I've taken out 3 or 4 enemies with a single match using that method.

Also make sure you're disarming every trap you come into contact with and using the parts to craft crossbow bolts.

I had a lot of issues with this game, but honestly scarcity of ammo was never a problem for me on Normal difficulty.

I got this on Black Friday just going off of metacritic scores and now I really wish I had watched the trailers or read this thread. Aside from the issues that have already been discussed here, I absolutely hated the aesthetic of the game. It's got that stupid over the top Saw-style everything and the kitchen sink sort of horror that I've never found scary. With horror, less is more. Don't show me some Leatherface-wannabe cutting up people hung up on butcher hooks in the first chapter. If you need to go for that much overkill, save it for when the player is already invested in the character.

After playing the spartan and genuinely frightening Alien: Isolation, this seems like a parody of survival horror games. Give me even the worst Silent Hill games over this.

I was Laura's bitch for several days. I think I tried to kill her since last Saturday, 30 minutes sessions almost every day since then, until last night. And yeah, I immediately checked a walkthrough, but still couldn't do it.
I know that you don't have to kill her, you can just run, even trying that was impossible. Last night finally the corridor was open, to reach the elevator, and I start running and my energy is consumed immediately. I was killed trying to get to the elevator.
But I knew I was closer, so I kept trying and 10+ minutes later I was able to run away from her.

My brother and I played this around the same time but he was a little bit ahead of me for most of it. So I would occasionally ask him for advice or bitch to him about something if I died a bunch trying to get through something.

Spoiler:

I swear the game glitched at the boss fight with the safehead in the meat locker...I must have run in circles shooting him for about 20 minutes waiting for that elevator door to open. I swear I damaged him enough to trigger the elevator 2 or 3 times over

So when we finally finished, I died 190 times and he only died 72. At first I thought he was just awesome at it but it turns out he was playing on easy the whole time and I had it on normal. I think for sanity's sake I may start playing games on easy mode, haha.